rhubarb bubble tea and other spring flings

We made this rhubarb soda recipe with a little twist: we added tapioca, took away some of the sugar, and added a bit of maple syrup. Bubble tea with tapioca is a treat for all members of our family. We love how the tapioca comes shooting up the huge straws.

So this was a perfect spring time beverage. Sugar + spring + tapioca. Genius, eh?

I've never declared a season to be my favourite, but this year I'll have to say that I'm just LOVING spring. And it may just be my favourite season. I'm noticing all of the little changes - through photos and through my daughters. And I'm grateful.

But like my daughters' growth, I want to freeze spring - the baby bunnies, the just-new plants, the fragrant blossoms on trees, the first flowers. But it's all just tumbling out now, racing into summer.

Each day I'm trying to do something to slow spring down. To eat outside (when it's not raining). To walk. To notice the swirly snail-trails on the sidewalk. To watch a bird carry a worm to its nest. To hold wriggling worms in garden gloves. To take a photo. To touch the feathery flower petals. To close my eyes and inhale lily-of-the-valley or lilac or apple blossoms again and again and again. 

gathering dandelions

trilliums

sweet magnolias

robin after the rain

a nest of baby bunnies in my sister's backyard
could anything be cuter?

sugar + spring

What do you get when you blend sugar + spring? Yummy goodness!

foraging along sidewalks

One day after school, we hunted along the sidewalk paths for violets and dandelions. We wanted to make spring flower jam and jelly and we decided on 2 recipes: violet jam and dandelion jelly. 

Violet Jam

I adapted this recipe to suit my low-maintenance purposes. Here's what I did:

3/4 cup to 1 cup loosely packed violet blossoms
1 cup water
3 T lemon juice
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/3 package liquid pectin

Blend violets, 1/2 cup water, and lemon juice. Heat 1/2 cup water, cinnamon, honey, and sugar in a saucepan. When warm, add pectin and stir until mixed well. Add violet mixture, then bring to a boil. Stir constantly for about two minutes. Pour into prepared jars to set. Don't have to bother canning - just eat, refrigerate, or freeze. Eat with soft goat cheese or cream cheese on good crackers, like these ones. Makes  3-4 125 ml jars of jam.

Dandelion Jelly

4 cups whole dandelion flowers (not stems)
2 cups boiling water
1/4 cup lemon juice
4 cups sugar
3 oz / 85 ml liquid pectin
yellow food colouring (optional)

Pick open, yellow flowers, snipping off the stems. Collect about 4 cups whole dandelion flowers. Snip off the yellow parts into a bowl (you'll get a bit of green - that's ok). Pour 2 cups boiling water over the yellow snips and let it steep for 1 hour or overnight. Strain through a fine sieve or coffee filter, reserving the dandelion infusion. Pour the infusion into a large pot, then stir in lemon juice and sugar. Cook on high; bring to a full rolling boil. Add liquid pectin and continue to boil for 2 minutes. Skim any foam that rises to the surface. Add food colouring to make it look more yellow. I used 15 drops because 15 seemed like a nice number. Ladle quickly into prepared hot jars. Place warm lids and bands on before filling the next jar. Screw band on tightly, then flip jar upside down for 5 to 10 minutes to seal. If any jars don't seal, process them in a hot water bath for 10 minutes, eat right away, or put in fridge or freezer. Makes 9 small 125 ml jars of goodness. Yummy on bagels.

Happy spring to you!

training wheels spring

When my daughter Eden woke up to snow on the ground this morning, she said, "Mom, I think it's a training wheels spring. It's trying really hard to be spring, but it's not quite ready yet."

I loved this, and thought of the many ways that I am "training wheels." Many days, I feel like a training wheels parent, a training wheels wife, a training wheels writer, etc. etc. etc. I have this feeling like I haven't quite arrived, and that I need to prove to myself that I really am the real deal.

Eden is wishing lately that she would be 5. July seems like too far away, and she's tired of being 4. She's very conscious of ways that she wants to grow up and improve - she wants to read, write, swim, hold babies, take care of animals, and many other activities. And she boldly and fearlessly takes them on and sees herself as the real thing - a reader, writer, swimmer, biker - because she sees her progress and is proud. This past week, she graduated from her running bike (a great invention, by the way) to a 2-wheeler bike WITH NO TRAINING WHEELS. She's immensely proud of this accomplishment, and sees herself as a real bike rider now - it has graduated her into an older child category, in her mind at least.

I wonder what fears hold me back from seeing myself as the real thing - a real parent, a real wife, a real writer with a real voice. This reminds me of a favourite quote by Marianne Williamson:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?

Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world.
There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. 

I think I'm ready for the training wheels to come off... one of these days.

midwife of new life

On this first day of spring, I'm thinking about new life.

My husband's grandma just died today.

But amidst the sadness, we talked to our daughters about this being Grandma's wish - to join other loved ones who had gone before her. And we talked of hopes - of what we hope the afterlife will be like for Grandma. It would definitely include choirs, and pianos, and violins, and lots of music. New life.

Derek's parents, aunts, and uncles sat around Grandma's bed. By singing, praying, and acting as her spiritual midwives, they ushered her into a new life in death.

My daughter saw new sprouts coming up from the ground today.

I wondered about being a midwife of new life - how could I encourage the new life around me in all of its forms - new babies being born, new plants growing, new things being learnt, new relationships formed, new milestones achieved, new stages of life. Newness and change are constantly around us.

Sometimes newness can be a bit scary to me - a new home, a new neighbourhood, a new school - because you are leaving the old and familiar. But oh, the growth! Last year, while on sabbatical in France, our daughters went to the local school there. This newness was not really welcome, but at the end of the first full week, our daughter prayed at lunchtime, "Thank you, God, for new experiences." Derek and I looked at each other with tears in our eyes. Who would have known? And the growth that occurred because of this willingness to risk, to step into newness, was incredible.

So this spring, I'm looking for new life - in the earth, in my family, in myself. I'll try to embrace it when it comes along, and try to be a midwife of new life in others. We'll see what grows!